Wasabi Technologies wants to be a "more predictable alternative to the hyperscalers" after $70m funding round

Wasabi Technologies has raised $70 million in funding in a move the company says will propel it into direct competition with hyperscale cloud providers like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.

The investment round was led by L2 Point Management and included funding pledges from existing investors like Fidelity Management & Research Company as well as flash storage provider Pure Storage.

The funding round values Wasabi at $1.8 billion and marks over $600 million raised by the firm to-date.

In a statement, Wasabi said the funding will enable it to ramp up AI infrastructure expansion plans and broaden its global footprint. David Friend, co-founder and CEO of Wasabi Technologies, said this represents a huge seal of approval for the company.

“We’re ushering in the next generation of cloud storage, powering data-intensive workloads like generative AI and autonomous systems,” Friend commented.

“This funding underscores Wasabi’s strong market position and continued growth as enterprises and AI developers alike seek a better, more predictable alternative to the hyperscalers.”

Founded in 2015, Wasabi launched its flagship “Hot Cloud Storage” service two years later, offering enterprises high-performance storage options for data-intensive applications.

“Hot” cloud storage streamlines access to data sources that are accessed frequently, as opposed to “cold” data which is typically unused. Wasabi says this approach improves efficiency for enterprises, and crucially, reduces overall costs by avoiding egress fees and vendor lock-in.

Wasabi has capitalized on the AI boom

Wasabi’s popularity has soared since the advent of generative AI in late 2022, with enterprises faced with burgeoning workloads and storage bottlenecks.

The firm’s AI product range has grown rapidly on the back of this boom period, first with Wasabi AiR, and more recently with the launch of Wasabi Fire, an NVMe storage option for AI and machine learning training.

Today, the company boasts more than three exabytes of data under management and operates in 16 global regions.

“AI is changing the way enterprises manage and store data. Wasabi is demonstrating strong execution in delivering scalable, low-cost cloud storage built for AI ready data environments without added complexity or unpredictable costs,” said Krishna Gidwani, VP for strategy and corporate development at Pure Storage.

“Our investment reflects a shared focus on building the next generation of AI infrastructure that is intelligent by design and simple to deploy and operate.”

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